NETWORKS

DUSSELDORF, GERMANY -- Cisco Systems, a worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, announces today it will lead a consortium of industry and academic institutions in building a pan-European, high-capacity IPv6 research network largely funded by the European Commission (EC). As the primary networking vendor for this project, Cisco will provide a comprehensive IPv6 network infrastructure through routers and switches running Cisco IOS® Software for the world's largest native IPv6 network deployed to date. 6NET will enable service providers and European research and educational institutions to define next-generation network capabilities for the delivery of new and enhanced applications and services to Internet users worldwide. ``Communication networks in general and the Internet in particular are the life-blood of the information society,'' comments Frans de Bruine, a director of the Information Society Technologies Programme, European Commission. ``The 6NET test bed is at the heart of European-funded advanced networking experiments. This consortium intends to widely deploy IPv6 across the European research community and beyond. In making advanced Internet technology widely available, 6NET has the potential to enhance European competitiveness in this vital sector.'' ``IPv6 is required for the future growth of the Internet,'' says Joel Bion, vice president of Cisco's Internet Technologies Division. ``Today, Cisco is seeing the demand for IPv6 increasing, particularly internationally, as the demand for IP addresses grows. Cisco delivers the industry's most robust IPv6 networking solution, and is pleased to lead this pan-European effort in concert with the EC and participating universities and industry members.'' The 6NET project will initially span eight European countries and establish links with other IPv6 initiatives in North America and the Asia-Pacific region. 6NET will bring IPv6 capabilities and services to at least eleven National Research and Education Networks. 6NET and a second EC-directed project, Euro6IX, are designed to drive IPv6 deployment throughout Europe over a three-year time period. These two consortia will collaborate on technology development, the parallel deployment of advanced network services, the interconnection of both networks, and interoperability testing. For further information visit www.cisco.com